Consolidated Kansas

[RoosterLew]

I have a Welsumer I love dearly, but she is a bit erratic as a layer. I'll get an egg a day for a couple of weeks then 2 eggs the next week. Then about every 5 months, she takes several months off. I know she isn't laying because 1) she stops squatting and 2) she is my only dark egg layer. It seems like little shocks put her off laying (death of her best friend the first time for instance).

Don't be too quick to turn the roo into stew. He may just be eating broken eggs he finds.

25 hounds?

We have decided against roo stew, he does not need access to the eggs to access the chickens.
As well we still do not KNOW he is eating them! And I fifgure if we keep him away from eggs until he is mature, he will either have forgotten them, or be way to interested in chasing tail feathers by then, or both

At least 25, lol. He raises coyote hounds, has for many years. At one time he had some of the best dogs in the country. As he has aged he does not take near the care of them he used to, and dogs are like chickens, to get those few champions you have to weed through many culls!

We are buying his place and right now we are in the middle of us moving in and him moving out, lol

 

[chicken danz]

Rooster I have plenty of lemons cuckoos right now! Come n' get them!! Have you considered the hounds might be eating eggs? My dogs steal eggs all the time. I really don't mind because there is plenty and I get a kick out of watching how they try to hide them in their mouth while the slobbers come running out and refuse to look up at me because they are feeling guilty!!! It's enough payment in entertainment just for the eggs. With this changing weather the egg laying has been off too. Last week I had several extra dozen. This week I am scrambling (no pun intended) to come up with enough for my customers.
Thedownychick, Your babies will be fine. One word of caution. Make sure they have plenty of ventilation because you don't want them to get too hot either. This weekend could be bad. It gets a lot warmer inside a building than the general temp may be outside if you don't have ventilation. I have a fan going in my brooder house right now with no heat going.
Speaking of which, I was going to make screen type doors for a couple houses this week and haven't had a moment to do it. I have got to concentrate my efforts indoors for the next couple days with company coming. My family knows I am a slob but maybe not to the degree I really am. With all the hatching it looks like the dust bowl in here and smells like chicks.
They just don't understand!!!
I had so much going on this week I realized that I do miss the ability to get out and socialize once in a while. I met some friends at a local lake for a couple hours yesterday afternoon. I hadn't seen any of them in 3 years and they only live 60 miles away. It was so relaxing and enjoyable to just sit outside and chit chat. But of course I had to rush back home and start feeding and watering.
Time to re-evaluate what else to downsize.
I have my turkey in with my peafowl chicks in a bin. The peafowl are so much more active that they are laying on the turkey poults or picking at them. I guess I am going to have to find another bin mate for the turkeys. I've decided to just let the turkey hens sit now rather than gather eggs. I don't have a lot of poults but certainly enough to keep what I want for breeders and eat or sell the Toms. Sure wish I could sex them as poults.
I'm on the fence about what to hatch too. I will hatch some of Frank's barred rocks as well as my bluegold brahmas, but not sure how many of the orps or Swedish I will hatch. I think I'll start hatching full time again about the first of September for fall chicks.

 

[chicken danz]

Oh I forgot to mention. My suspicions were right. The last few nights about dusk I have found an owl sitting on my South barn waiting for a chance to come grab the birds. The only thing still free ranging at night are the ducks and a couple guinea. No luck having the owl run into a stray bullet so far. It just really ticks me off. I can hear wild ducks on the pond just south of me and they aren't targeting those. They are going for my domestics.

 

[RoosterLew]

We are moving for next few weeks, but once we are settled in you can bet I'll be up to get some Danz! Maybe Trish will still have that pretty Ameraucana boy and I'll loop around and pick him up to!
Hope the GF doesn't read this one....lol
I may have inadvertently implied that I wouldn't get any more for awhile, I doubt she believed it anyway! Lol

 

[chicken danz]

I do that all the time. I am always saying I am danzsizing. It isn't a lie.... it's the interpretation. Seriously I am getting some breeds moved out of here...just not enough.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Sorry, I don't know anything about that - maybe a picture? I did want to comment that I did a shorter trail ride with my horse today and we came across a stand of the compass plants and he went nuts eating as many as he could in the time allotted for grazing. So I guess it sure appeals to horses. Maybe if I ever run some beef cattle in our pasture they will be interested in eating them too.

Well good, I am glad he found a good treat. I will grab a pic and put it up.

 

[Polishpal]

Wow my keets are huge! They grow so fast but they are so cute X3. But they are so loud still. I had Harry potter the keet on my shoulder and it crapped on me Bl

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Here is one of the silkies I got in March. He is such a character and so loving. I got the others because of how much we fell in love with him. His name is Sub-Zero

Well I was going to post some more but I am having some issues so it will have to wait. What do you all think of Sub-Zero?

 

[RoosterLew]

Very pretty!

 

[chicken danz]

Cute Maidenwolf. So I took a pic while agf course I didn't get the cooperation I wanted. I had some broodies that just wouldn't give up.... so I did. Here are two LF cochin hens. If you look at the picture you will see a yellow spot between them. That is a chick they just hatched. I have no idea how many eggs are in those piles.